Total transactions at American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) from global multinational companies increased 11% year over year, beating expectations, according to CEO Paul Abbott, speaking on a first quarter earnings call. That growth, he said, outpaced that of small and midsize companies (SMEs).

Also reported by Abbott was “very positive same-store sales growth” across several industries, led by technology, which was up 30% year over year. He said professional services, pharma, mining, energy and utilities were all up by double-digit percentages.

A survey of the TMC’s 100 largest customers showed they expect travel spending in 2024 to increase 8% year over year, up 4 percentage points compared with what the survey announced last quarter. Similarly, the number of clients who expect to spend more on business travel this year than they did last year rose by 3 percentage points compared with the previous survey. “That’s certainly an indicator we’ll see pretty strong growth from the segment for the full year,” Abbott said.

SME transaction growth increased 5% year over year, which Abbott said was lower than expected. “If you’d asked me back in Q4,” he said, “I would have thought our growth rates for global multinational and SME would have been closer together.” He said SMEs faced challenges that include higher interest costs and sustained higher inflation, which has resulted in tighter controls on spending.

Abbott said Amex GBT’s $570 million acquisition of CWT remains on track to close in the second half of the year, pending regulatory approvals. The integration teams for the acquisition have been established, he said.

Amex GBT reported a net loss of $19 million for the first quarter, compared with a $27 million net loss in the first quarter of 2023.

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